Our column shows you the way to beautiful bread and consummate cake. This
week: the 'hit’ biscuit
.

To create a “hit” biscuit must be like having a huge-grossing number one single. Just imagine the light-bulb moment: “How about a circle of dryish sponge with a layer of orange jelly and a coating of plain chocolate?” Perhaps that’s how Jaffa Cakes came into being at McVitie’s, and a fortune was made.

And a good biscuit not only goes viral – there’s no cure. For me it was Garibaldi biscuits, or “squashed flies” as we knew them; and chocolate Bourbons, those snappy rectangular sandwiches with a solid “buttercream” middle. If I see either of these two on a tea tray, my hand goes out to them by default even though I really prefer home-made biscuits.

So, to create a hit biscuit. “Create” is not quite the right word because my recipe is based on Phil Vickery’s cookie dough in Proof of the Pudding (Simon & Schuster), a cookbook that has gone into several editions and is a must for recreational bakers and lovers of British sweet things.

The recipe makes a biscuit that, while crisp, is slightly chewy in the centre. All I have done is add good-quality cocoa powder to make a chocolate version. You can make these biscuits any size, but I made mine the size of petits fours, aiming to eat less. No surprises that the ploy failed.

• Cream together the butter and sugar, beating with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy (or you can use a tabletop mixer with a beater attachment).

• Mix the condensed milk with the cocoa powder, adding a little of the powder at a time and whisking to a smooth paste.

• Add the flour and condensed milk mixture to the creamed butter and sugar; stir until well blended.

• Form into a roulade shape, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or store in the fridge for up to 3 days).

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

• Cut discs from the cookie dough, about 1cm thick, and place them on the baking sheet, about 4cm apart.

• Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven, wait about three minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies should be a little soft in the centre.

• Store in a tin, or eat fresh from the oven.

Your letters

I am deluged with eggless cake recipes sent in by baking clubbers, including a fascinating one from George de Stratton of Norfolk. “Years ago, eggs were few during the winter months. I found a basic recipe for vinegar cake in one of my great-grandmother’s Victorian recipe books.” Preheat oven to 160C/320F/Gas 3 and line a 9in tin with baking paper. Rub 8oz (225g) butter into 1lb (450g) flour, then add 8oz (225g) each sugar, raisins and sultanas. Combine 2 tbsp milk with 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda, mix with 270ml milk and 2 tbsp cider vinegar, then add to dry ingredients and mix well — fast. Put straight into the tin and bake for one to two hours or until a skewer comes out clean.